


Can’t Use Plain English

by FrivolousSuits



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: Flirting, Language of Flowers, M/M, Season/Series 07 Speculation, Sexual Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-28 03:20:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10822674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrivolousSuits/pseuds/FrivolousSuits
Summary: Back when Mike left law for investment banking, he teased Harvey for not sending flowers to celebrate his new office.Years later, Mike returns to Pearson Specter Litt, finally freed from jail and the burden of fraud. He finds a gift waiting in his office.





	Can’t Use Plain English

Mike enters Harvey’s— his office on Monday morning and finds it strangely empty, now stripped of signed basketballs and vintage records. Yet a burst of color catches his eye.

He turns to the coffee table and sees a smooth glass vase. It holds a single green stem, twined around a straight rod and tied to it for support. At the top blooms a cascade of flowers that curve the stem down with their weight, the petals shining gold at their centers before deepening into magenta. He reaches out to feel a frilled petal and finds it delicate yet undeniably substantial between his fingertips—

“Glad to be back?”

Mike whips around to see Harvey leaning by the door, his smile a touch too soft for a smirk. “You remembered.”

“Of course I did. You wouldn’t shut up back when you ran off with Sidwell, so I cut you off early this time and ordered your goddamn flowers.”

Mike chuckles at those memories, still exquisitely clear in his mind. “You mean you had Donna order me flowers.”

“No, that present right there’s all mine.”  

Mike pauses. “Wait, really?”

“Really.”

“Why?”

Harvey gives an exaggerated sigh. “You didn’t just ask me for flowers, Mike, you asked me for orchids. Repeatedly. Eventually I got curious enough—” his eyes take on a predatory gleam— “to do more research.”

“Maybe I just like orchids.”

“I asked Donna, who asked Rachel, and none of us have heard you mention orchids anytime else. So no, you don’t care about just any orchids, Mike. Fortunately, _those — _ ” he gestures at his present— “are not just any orchids.”

“They’re beautiful, obviously, but I don’t see what’s special about them . . .” Mike trails off, considering.

“Out of curiosity, I Googled the symbolism behind orchids— turns out flower meanings are a giant, contradictory disaster, and I don’t see why people can’t use plain English for their messages,” Harvey explains with a huff. “According to one source of arguable credibility, purple orchids represent admiration and respect, and yellow orchids stand for friendship, fresh starts—”

“So you got me purple-and-yellow orchids,” he finishes. “Wow, Harvey, that’s—”

“I’m not done,” he says, and Mike’s mouth snaps shut. “Sure, kid, I got you orchids in appropriate colors, and you’re welcome. But you never asked for a specific color in the first place. Throw in the fact that you don’t care about orchids unless I’m giving them to you, and I have to conclude that your subconscious wants any and all orchids, to hell with the color. You just care that those orchids are _mine_.” 

Mike’s breath catches.

“I learned a lot of things from that Google search, Mike,” Harvey plows on. “Wanna tell me where the name ‘orchid’ comes from?”

“Ancient Greek.”

“Be more specific.”

Mike groans. “The word ‘ _orchis_.’”

“Meaning?”

“Harvey—”

“Meaning?”

“Testicle.” He mumbles the answer.

“Damn right.” And now the grin Harvey’s been restraining bursts forth as he declares, “Feel free to enjoy those orchids however you want. After all, you’ve been begging for them for years.”

He starts to go, leaving Mike flushed magenta himself—

“Harvey?”

He turns back. “Yes?”

“I read that in Victorian times suitors sent orchids as part of courtship rituals, to show their affection,” Mike says, raising his chin to meet Harvey’s gaze, wearing an increasingly cheeky smile. “The more expensive the flower, the deeper their love.”

Harvey’s own smile fades, and he raises his eyebrows. “Is that so?”

Mike nods, suddenly unsure of what to expect. He certainly doesn’t expect Harvey’s eyes to darken as he remembers Rachel, as he readies himself to dismiss the flowers as a costly but tasteless, meaningless joke . . .

“Well, Mike,” he at last murmurs, “I’m sure it’s just coincidence that those are the most expensive orchids in Manhattan.”

Harvey strides out of the office without another word.

**Author's Note:**

> References this site: https://www.ftd.com/blog/share/orchid-meaning-and-symbolism


End file.
